Christina Tosi on crying kids on ‘MasterChef Junior’

Acknowledging that the young contestants on ‘MasterChef Junior’ are known to cry, judge Christina Tosi argues it might be a good thing, as sheltering kids from all things painful can inhibit their growth.

Christina Tosi: I would say that the way we see our roles as judges on Master Chef Junior is more as a mentor. So we’re honest with them, we’re firm with them, we don’t reprimand them in terms of “I told you no running in the kitchen, go stand in the corner” or “You’re grounded.” But we try and create instances where there’s a level of trust and a level of familiarity and a level of fun with them, because that’s an important element to spending time in the kitchen. Then, beyond that, it’s important that they feel like they’re taking risks and that they’re pushing themselves and that we’re pushing them.

And then we’re fair with them, we’re honest with them—if the dish is a flop, we tell them it’s a flop. And that’s disappointing, but I think, in this day and age, maybe we sugarcoat too many things with kids. Or we shelter them too much because we feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders and we don’t want to expose them to as much as we see. But these kids can take it and, if anything, they grow, they develop.

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